This must sound really weird, and possibly dirty. It’s not. Honestly.
Are you (or someone you know) female? Are you (or they) larger than average? Do you (or they) own a video camera? Or even a mobile phone with video capability? Do you want to star in my next game, Dante’s Inferno? And many other games after that?
What’s in it for you?
I’m asking you to email me a simple video of you walking up and down in eight directions. All you get in return is the chance to star in a game. No money, I’m afraid. Hey, this would make a good birthday gift for someone – “See that person starring in that game? That’s you!” It’s not something you can buy at the store.
The video does not have to be good quality, it doesn’t matter what clothes or coat you wear. I’ll be drawing over the video, so I can change any parts you don’t like. I can even change the face if you want.
More details:
If you’ve seen the first game, you’ll know what I’m aiming at. Screenshots and a free demo are on the main site. The new animations will be minimalist in style, as before, but they’ll look better. The best animations are based on real video.
So I need video of someone walking in eight directions. Wear whatever you want, though flowing clothes look best – anything (scarf, large dress, toga, whatever) that swishes as you walk.
It shouldn’t take more than five minutes to video the whole thing. Or ten minutes if you want to practice first.
Large just means “not skinny”
By “large” I just mean any size bigger than skinny. Anything from size 16 to 36.
Why a larger woman?
Why a larger woman? Because I need an animation for Beatrice, and I already have too many skinny characters. So far, I have two characters with full walking animations:
- Older, well built guy in regular clothes. (Valjean)
- Younger thin woman. (Peri)
The next story, Dante’s Inferno, adds two more full-animation characters:
- Thin guy in robes (Dante). He has to be thin, as I’ll later be using the same animation for Caesar (and Caesar was historically thin and athletic).
- Undefined female (Beatrice).
I want my characters to be different from other games. More real. So I’d like Beatrice to be larger than the other skinny characters. Anything else is up to you. Even a wheelchair is fine. I just don’t want another Lara Croft.
Curvy people look better
I like curves and quirks. In this game characters are hand drawn, mostly in outline. I love getting animations that look real – where you can see the character shifting their weight, and see the clothes move about. Thin people are boring. When a thin person moves they just move. I want to see swaying, turning, I want to see flow, rhythm, I want personality, a look that says “this is a real person and not just a stick figure”.
I need eleven 5 second video segments:
- Video of walking forwards in a straight line, at least 6 paces (left + right = 2 paces)
- Walking backwards, 6 paces
- Walking right to left, 6 paces
- Walking left to right, 6 paces
- Walking front-right, 6 paces
- Walking back-right, 6 paces
- Walking front-left, 6 paces
- Walking back-left, 6 paces
- Standing still in all 8 directions.
- Standing from a seated position (just one direction – you choose)
- Picking something off the ground (or near the ground)
Other optional animations:
- Standing up from sitting on the ground (optional – if you’re very large and this is a problem, ignore this)
- Anything else you can think of – the more variety the better. If you can run or dance or jump or rub your hand together or faint even just raise your arms that’s great! Anything you do will likely be used in a future game at some point. But walking and standing are the most important.
The camera must not move
The video will be drawn over, at ten frames a second, so low resolution is fine. Good lighting is important – outside if possible. And most important, the camera must not move – this is essential! Remember that the walking animation will be looped again and again. If the camera moves at all then the animation just won’t look right. A tripod is not necessary – just placing a mobile phone on a hard surface is fine, but the camera must not move.
More about Beatrice:
Beatrice is Dante’s guide in the second half of the story. She’s the personification of perfection (to Dante). She’s normally portrayed as very one dimensional (occasionally two dimensional), and skinny, but I want to add some personality.
Deadline etc
The deadline is mid February. The video can be in any format that can be emailed or put online where I can grab it. I’ll send you work in progress do you can approve it or tell me to change it.
I realize I’m being optimistic here, I probably won’t get any videos, but who knows? It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Could you tell others?
If you read this blog and you also post regularly on another forum that might be interested, could you please mention my request? Thanks.
Thanks for reading!
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